Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Arguing about what salad dressing is more appropriate for a baked Buffalo chicken dip recipe is kind of like debating about which shoes to wear with that Hawaiian shirt. Still, to some of us (and by “us,” I mean people from Western New York), these kinds of things are important.

No one can explain why, but for whatever reason, deep-fried chicken wings coated in hot sauce, taste really good dunked into creamy blue cheese dressing. However, despite this if-it’s-not-broke-don’t-fix-it dipping sauce, people started serving Buffalo wings with Ranch dressing. I’m not sure why, but assume it was some type of strong-arm tactics by the buttermilk industry. Those bastards.

I’m not saying that chicken wings dipped in Ranch are terrible; I’m just saying that the sharper, saltier tang of blue cheese dressing works much better. That goes for the classic hot wings, as well as when this iconic recipe is in dip form.

As I joked about in the video (it wasn't a joke), you can’t keep showing up at these Super Bowl parties with a bag of chips every year. So, if you’re ready to go from snack scrub to appetizer all-star, then give this great baked dip a try. Enjoy!

75 comments:

I'm a CA native, who ended up in upsate NY for school. I never understood the damn ranch thing when I lived there! I generally went with my wings straight till I moved and discovered the joy of blue cheese dressing.

Seriously people! It's a chicken and blue cheese dip! If you don't like blue cheese and chidden and hot sauce, then try another recipe (like the Hot Spinach Artichoke Dip), but don't ask for substitute... Com'on!

And by the way, I don't know what's funnier, Chef John's joke (which really cracked me up) or the massive amount of people on YoutUbe feeling the need to say that vegans can't eat chicken and blue cheese dip anyway! No you think?!

Thank you for solving the issue of blue cheese vs ranch. I'm about to make the dip - now using your version for sure - but couldn't decide which way to go. P.S. I couldn't get the link to work, either, but found what sounds like a decent recipe on Food.com

Someone has the world hoodwinked with those 69 Boyz lyrics! That's a Freak Nasty song. If you Google "Da Dip" with 2 Live Crew, it comes up for them, too. Some people get their raunchy rap groups mixed up and then misinform others. But it's definitely a Freak Nasty original.

I don't know if you can get it on the left-coast, but Texas Pete's wing sauce is the best on the market! Texas Pete has flavor in addition to fire. Frank's is just fire and vinegar. The only reason that Franks is in the Anchor Bar's original wing sauce recipe is they weren't able to get Texas Pete. The South wasn't exporting that to New York then. It's the world's loss.

Make this recipe but substitute Texas Pete Wing Sauce. This is the only way it could be any better.

One of our New Year's food resolutions was to learn how to debone a chicken. We prepped 4 chickens a couple of weeks ago, roasted them, portioned them, and froze them. Yesterday was a snow day (we don't get many of those around here), so we thawed one of our boneless roasted chickens and made this dip! The flavor was right on. The texture made it a perfect dip: creamy and luxurious, but held its own when eaten with crunchy celery. There are a lot of recipes for buffalo chicken dip out there, but Chef John's will make you look like a pro!

I'm one of those blue cheese haters. I'm sorry. I know. I'm a horrible person. I should be tarred and feathered, but!!! I LOVE buffalo chicken. I mean the kind of love that if I had to choose between my mother-in-law and buffalo-chicken-anything she would lose. No question. But I prefer my buffalo-chicken-anything straight up. Still, I WANT this dip to work for me. A local pub makes a buffalo burger and "they" say that the blue cheese takes on a different flavor, that it doesn't taste like the mold you pour on your salad. Can the same be said for this dip? (Fingers crossed.)

made it. had blue cheese for the 1st time in this recipe. It was outta dis world good! I will forever make it with blue cheese instead of the old way with the ranch. :) Thank u CHef John. I haven't made a single thing by you that has not turned out delicious. for real.

I finally decided to make this but I actually didn't like how it turned out. My mother liked it, however. Happy for her at least, but I feel so bummed out since I was really excited about this. I think what killed it was the TYPE of blue cheese dressing I used because I know I have had B.C Dressing with pizza before and I liked the flavor of it; but it was at a restaurant however.

I was curious as to what brand you may have used? Or which you would recommend? The one that I used was a chunky blue cheese dressing by Wishbone, since crumbled blue cheese was unavailable. I was originally going to go with Krafts Blue Cheese but now I'm just at a loss.

This was delicious and was devoured long before some of the other appetizers were even sampled. I used Ken's chunky blue cheese dressing, full fat, of course, and it was perfect. I also used a solid hunk of blue cheese and crumbled it into the chicken/cream cheese mixture. Thanks Chef John.

I discovered your blog just 2 weeks ago, and by now my husband is sick of hearing, "Chef John this!", and, "Chef John that!" But one thing he isn't sick of is your recipes. So far, I've made Chicken Enchiladas Verde, Mexican Rice, Baked Buffalo Chicken Dip, and Spicy Peanut Butter & Pepper Jelly Chicken Wings (I used drumsticks, baked the same as the wings in the recipe - outstanding!) Thank you for these great recipes. I have ordered the 'American' cookbook, and am awaiting word of the Foodwishes cookbook. Your recipes are easy but flavorful, and your videos are so dang entertaining!

Made this for the superbowl, turned out great. I did use blue cheese dressing, but subbed out sharp cheddar cheese for blue cheese crumbles just because I was worried about having the blue cheese taste too overwhelming. Everyone loved the dip, and it tasted great with celery and carrots. My special contribution was a bit of paprika because I didn't have any old bay, and they are both red so that works right?

Made this just as written and it was a huge hit at the Super Bowl Party. I'm making it again for supper tonight as requested by my low carb hubby (minus those pesky vegan crackers of course ;O). Thanks SOO much for this great recipe!

I have had it twice. The first time a friend made it and it blew my mind so I got the recipe and tried to make it myself. When I made it all I tasted was blue cheese. I followed the instructions and everything. I want to make it again but all I can think of doing is adding less blue cheese. Is this my best option?

I have had this dip twice. The first time a friend made it and it was awesome. I got the recipe, made it myself and all I tasted was blue cheese. I followed the directions exactly and want to know how to correct this. I'm making it again this weekend. Any suggestions?

I've made this numerous times since the 2012 Superbowl. It is one of the most simple & delicious recipes that gets rave reviews from family friends. There is NEVER a drop left! I actually just made it again to bring to a party. And, I too do not comprehend the ranch thing. Bleu cheese all the way baby!! Thank you Chef John! xo

OMG This looks like a total tongue-gasm recipe to me. MUST_TRY_SOON! Being that I can eat blue cheese like a mad woman, I am pretty sure that I will find this to be a winner ;) And, the beautiful thing is, I have a HUGE bottle of the Frank's sauce from Costco (HUGE!)just looking for a reason to come out and play ;)Yum yum TY!

I'd love to make this dip but here in Venezuela we have farmer cheese - the crumbly stuff, queso blanco, mozzarella, and that's about it. Basically just fresh cheeses. Is there any kind of substitute for the aged cheeses? Some way to get that sour aged taste through lime juice/vinegar etc? BTW, I'm cooking your no-knead pizza in a pan on the stove - currently I'm without oven - and it turns out awesome. I'm also making your pizza sauce and sausage from scratch. Prices are strange in Venezuela, good tomatoes cost a nickle each, gasoline is $0.17 a gallon, but a small can of skinless tomatoes is $4.00. Go figure,

Thanks! And great work. I've been in South America for 6 months and am thinking about starting my own cooking show - on what you can do with a good knife, skillet, pressure cooker and a two-burner gas stove connected to a 100 lb cylinder sitting next to me. Besides blowing yourself up, possibilities are endless.

Hi Chef John, You asked me if there are any hard cheeses in Venezuela - yes there are, but difficult to find and cost 3 times more than in US - so not really economical - and by the way, thanks for such a rapid response. Here it is difficult and expensive to get pepperoni so I am making my own. If you can, I would love to see a recipe for bread sticks so I can make pepperoni bread sticks aka boscoe sticks back home - i think the people would love them. Going to start a restaurant here called Chef John's. :) JK I saw you have 1/4 million subscribers - awesome - but 37 negatives, probably from Mr. Bean. He's crazy and weird. :)

Al asked if you could make this into a dinner casserole, maybe you were joking...but I was enjoying a leftovers platter and did not have any dip left for my chips by the time I was done with my mom's homemade stuffing, they were great together!

Made this yesterday for a get together. We had kids and adults but most impressive is the people that don't like blue cheese who went back for multiple "seconds". I let them know it had a lot of blue cheese but maybe the buffalo flavor dumbed down the strong blue cheese taste enough that they didn't notice. I also worried about the spice level for the kids and they didn't seem to mind either. Another good one Chef John!

I made it the night before (I just didn't bake it) and not wanting to use my guests as guinea pigs, I baked a little ramekin of it to test (that's my story and I'm sticking to it).

This recipe is so incredibly awesome! I roughly followed Chef John's recipe for blue cheese dressing (i.e., I used mayo, sour cream, a splash of lemon, and a bit extra blue cheese as opposed to store-bought dressing) and used a whole 5oz bottle of Frank's (which is just shy of the amount called for) but otherwise stuck to the recipe.

Totally delicious! I think I prefer it over actual wings (which I guess shouldn't be surprising). The whole recipe was perhaps a bit too much for the six people I was entertaining -- I'd probably halve the recipe next time for a party that small -- but this is definitely a great appetizer for a party.

I've made this dip numerous times since I found it last year on Allrecipes. I just LOVE it. It is my favorite and my recipe I bring to gatherings and serve up every weekend for football Sunday... thank you for such a great, easy, delicous recipe!

Chef John... You are my culinary hero. I just made Buffalo Chicken Dip for a birthday party. And it was a huge hit. I got a couple of "Holy cow! This is insanely good!" and an actual "Get it away from me, I am going to eat the whole thing!" Success!!!

Chef John, I am an effete, food-snob, vegan democrat. Could I substitute marshmallows for the chicken, distilled water for the French's hot sauce and, shredded iceberg lettuce for the cheese? Also, my new health insurance plan prohibits ingestion of Old Bay Seasoning upon penalty of cancellation. (Apparently, the word "Old" is now as verboten as the words "freedom and responsibility") Any substitute for this evil spice mixture? Thanks